New research has revealed that 9.5 million UK households are shelling out for broadband speeds they don’t utilise. A third (34%) of internet users are overpaying for their broadband packages, equating to an estimated £53 million wasted on unused speeds each month.
This amounts to a shocking £637 million annually. The figures were released by Go Compare, which surveyed users about their internet habits and the broadband speeds they pay for.
After determining the speeds households actually need based on their usage, it exposed the extent of overpayment. The comparison site claims that those who overpay spend an average of £5.58 per month more than necessary on their broadband.
This equates to £66.96 squandered over 12 months – enough to cover a standard Netflix subscription for a year. According to the findings, most Brits pay for some of the fastest broadband speeds.
Around a third (34%) have speeds exceeding 150 megabits per second (Mbps), but it’s estimated that only a fifth (21%) of internet users actually require broadband this fast. Similarly, over a quarter (27%) pay for speeds between 51 and 100Mbps, but only 12% of internet users need speeds in this range.
Meanwhile, a mere 3% of the nation settles for the slowest speeds of 15Mbps or less, yet this would suffice for 13% of users.
Broadband users are being warned they could be wasting hundreds of pounds a year on unnecessary high-speed packages. A mere 4% of those who only require 15Mbps are paying for this level, while one in 10 splash out on speeds over 150Mbps, despite slower services sufficing, leading to an average overspend of £9 monthly or £113 annually.
Matt Sanders from Go. Compare commented: “Our latest research suggests that a large chunk of the country is spending more than it needs to on broadband, which is a real kick in the teeth when times are so tight. Everyone’s broadband needs are different, so it can be difficult to know what speeds you actually need.”
He added: “The key factors to keep in mind are the number of people in your household and what you tend to use your broadband for. Certain activities like online gaming and streaming 4K videos need faster speeds to run smoothly, and these speeds will be diluted if multiple devices are using the internet at once.”
Sanders further advised: “So, if you live alone and only use the internet for general browsing like emails and shopping, you should be able to manage on relatively slow speeds. But, if your household is a family of four with multiple devices on the go, you might need to get faster speeds so that everyone can use the internet at once without being slowed down.”
For more details on appropriate broadband speeds, customers can visit Go.Compare’s website.
Methodology
The comparison site first identified the speeds needed by different groups of internet users using a YouGov survey. Respondents were asked about their broadband usage and household size, with their responses compared to the speeds required to meet these needs, based on figures from Which.
Each group was then asked what internet speeds they were actually paying for to identify how many respondents were overpaying. This figure was applied to the overall number of broadband users in the survey to estimate the percentage of users overpaying.
This percentage was then applied to the estimated number of UK households using broadband to calculate the number of households overpaying. The estimated number of UK households using broadband was calculated by applying the percentage of UK broadband users (according to the survey) to 2023 ONS figures on the number of households in the UK.
To estimate the amount overpaid on broadband, Go. Compare first calculated the average broadband price per month split by the following speeds: 0 to 15Mbps, 16 to 50Mbps, 51 to 100Mbps, 101 to 149Mbps, 150Mbps+. The findings were based on an analysis of 210 broadband deals on Go. Compare.
The data was then cross-referenced with YouGov survey results to determine the extent of overpayment among different groups of internet users. Researchers then applied the average overpayment amount to the total number of households overpaying for broadband, providing an estimate of the total monthly overpayment across the nation. This figure was then multiplied by 12 to provide an annual estimate.
